“You have…no…good…car…ideas!”–Old Man, “Focus Group” sketch from I Think You Should Leave Now

That was a forgettable game. It reminded me, more than anything else, of our showing against Hoffenheim last year around the same point, when relegation was secure and we were up against a motivated team fighting to secure a spot in Europe. Of course, we technically could, but that notwithstanding, it’s the kind of unremarkable shellacking that it’s impossible to make heads or tails of. And I won’t even try.

Partially, that’s because I spent the practically the whole first half helping my friends cook breakfast and visiting with their Garfield-esque cat Townes. I know, I know, sacrilege. But let’s face it: watching a Geisterspiel on TV is hardly conducive to passionate support. Besides that, soccer is about bringing people together, and since we had gathered that morning for a Leeds United—Union doubleheader, it felt right to choose actual human interaction over the advertising bands and cavernous wasteland of one more pandemic game.

Of course, Wolfsburg would have been cavernous even with their fans there—though our fans would have showed up in force. And in fact they did, providing what was surprisingly some of the loudest support we’ve heard so far this season—and that at an away game! I suspect they found an acoustically advantageous spot; by the time I returned to the couch for the second half I could hear the chants clearly enough to join in. Needless to say my friends were impressed, and I could only illustrate, with what must have seemed like increasing insanity, the beautiful chaos of a Union home game in front of 22,012.

One sour note, though: Gentner is leaving. It will always bring a smile to my face to think of his time with us, not least because of the ironic circumstances surrounding his initial transfer. I enjoyed the stability he brought, and his ability to reach into his bag of old man tricks at least once a game. By all accounts, he’s a man of good character and no small leadership ability, and while Ruhnert works in mysterious ways, it’ll be sad to not give him the send-off he deserves. Best wishes to him on his next stop, and I’m excited to see who we bring in to replace him. Because if I’ve learned one thing about Union, it’s that the club seems to have an ability to burn through players. Now if we could just go ahead and Announce Trimmel.